In October 2001, the ILO launched the fi rst series of groundbreaking participatory gender audits in accordance with the ILO Gender Mainstreaming Policy. This was the fi rst exercise of its kind to be introduced in the United Nations system. The objective of these gender audits was to promote organizational learning on how to implement gender mainstreaming effectively in the policies, programmes and structures of the institution and to assess the progress made in achieving gender equality. In the fi rst series of gender audits (2001-2002), the main focus was on auditing ILO Offi ces and increasing gender awareness and capacity.
